I keep a journal for each of my children where I write letters to them and prayers for them. Each child’s journal is unique outside and in. My hope is that some day, when they are 15 or 22 or 40, they will read my entries and be strengthened by these individualized encouragements from the one…
At my local women’s Bible study, an elderly widow stood up. In tears, she timidly let out a secret. “I miss my husband and nobody touches me anymore. I come here hoping someone will squeeze my hand or hold my shoulder once a week,” she said, “Young women, widows need more hugs.” I cried. This…
Individuals and organizations raising awareness about social justice issues may adopt one of two different approaches: harsh or gentle. One website may jar the senses with black and red block lettering then drive readers to tears with their emotive descriptions; their speakers might pound podiums and flash graphic images on power point slides. They believe…
Once a week, summer camp staff woke before sunrise because, as tired as we were, we found Matt Lantz’s Bible studies more invigorating than sleep. I admit I was disappointed in 2008 when Matt announced his series on Leviticus. “Twelve weeks on Leviticus?!” I groaned, “you mean that boring book of unapplicable rules? Can’t we…
This month, Love True launched its blog and invited me to join its crew of writers! For their first post, head blogger, Jackie, interviewed the founders (read Rebekah’s, Emily’s and my abbreviated responses at www.love-true.org.) Founding this nonprofit was a fat milestone on my faith journey. God taught me to pray and to wait then to follow him…
I don’t know about you, but after communion, I want more bread. Maybe it is just because I come to church hungry. No, not figuratively- like literal belly-rumble hungry. A little pinch of a loaf doesn’t satisfy my stomach. I feel immature when my hunger for more bread interrupts my thanksgiving prayer for God’s metaphorical…
Sunrise is muffled by a pale veil, but the snowy ground glows. The scene framed by my window pane looks like spray paint on sidewalk chalk: The sky is three pastel blue-pink-orange layers and the distant hills are soft purple, but the yard is neon blue. I can see neither road or roofs for snow….
The now viral #WomenNotObjects video highlighting ads that objectify women was posted on January 11- that’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Coincidence? Probably. But a link between sexual advertising and sex trafficking is hard to deny. The video’s creator, Madonna Badger, is a executive at Badger & Winters, an advertising agency that has committed to never…
Most people reading this article already know about and maybe even advocate for victims of sex trafficking. But many readers do not know about its correlation to childhood sexual abuse. Indeed, no other factor increases a girl or boy’s vulnerability to trafficking more than the memory of such abuse. [1] According to a report by the…
My friend, Sue exemplifies the godly advice to “love the people in front of you.” Every week, she hosts a playgroup for over seven mommas and their toddlers. Sue meets an often unspoken but critical need for moms of littles: fellowship and rest. Fellowship: Women need fellowship. Talking actually makes us happier. But for many moms in the babies…
Full of zeal, we may ask God to use us for some great purpose. “I’ll do anything,” we pray. But when the call to help a hurting neighbor is uncomfortably unpredictable, inconvenient and costly, we might stare at our feet and mumble, “So, I, uh, have these other ideas for how I can make a difference….
God does not hold spontaneous Q&A sessions. We shouldn’t procrastinate on prayer then dial in with awkward unfamiliarity asking for quick advice on a big decision. God reveals how to follow Him gradually over years of spending hours with him, meditating on scripture, and renewing our minds daily through practice and prayer. As with fitness,…
Sometimes Colossians 3:12 hits me over the head. I missed my quiet time this morning and was not exactly tender-hearted toward my children when they swarmed me with needs as I tried to squeeze my Bible study in later. The irony of my un-Christlikeness while I read the Bible was loud and humbling. I thought…
Patience is virtue that babies have yet to cultivate. Especially hungry ones. When I lift my son from his bed he wiggles all over with excitement. “I’m about to eat!” his body language declares, mouth flung open and head twisting side to side eagerly searching for milk. But in the seconds it takes me to…
Inside the back cover my journals, I grow a list of little things I am thankful for. I started the habit after reading Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts in 2011. I’ve logged the list on my blog. You can read my first 59 gifts here. 60. Windy day quilt show 61. Young folks dancing to…
I’m lamenting autumn’s pending ending. Especially this year, possibly the last of six beautiful years in New England where colorful hills spread like patchwork quilts. I love rereading old posts when seasons change. Here are snippets from a few fall favorites. “My favorites are the sugar maples. They are such a glorious red! I can compare the…
One quarter of the 400,000 children in the foster care system are waiting to be adopted. One quarter of those adoptable youth will not be adopted; rather they will be “emancipated” from care once they turn 18. For those youth, the future is dire and dangerous. Underfunded agencies help how they can, but most teens are thrust…
The good thing about titling a post as a “birth story” is only people interested in birth stories will read it. That’s your warning. But don’t worry I won’t stray too far into the TMI zone. My midwife recommended that, since my previous labor had lasted only 50 minutes, I should head to the hospital if…
Many of us, when we think of sex trafficking, picture Thailand or Moldova, not New Jersey. The truth is that the sex trade is big business here in the United States and most victims are not trafficked in from abroad. They are Americans, often as young as twelve years old, forced or coerced into prostitution by pimps that roam even the quietest of…
As a youth, I experienced spikes in spiritual zeal after retreats, mission trips and concerts. Then I’d fizzle out like a flat Coke a week or few later. My peers and I came to expect this of each other. To us, life was a series of spiritual highs and lows, “mountain tops and valleys” we…
Picture 6:20am. Journaled 5:30am. Coffee on the cold stone porch. I woke before the birds. They sing now in increasing number as light reveals treetops atop easterly hills. Stars fade one by one and the faraway campus clock tower light turns off. The Sun has not yet peeked over the horizon but her light goes…
Rerouting to Homeschool Planning Guides I, II and III. I have divided this post into three parts: Homeschool Planning Guide I: Finding your Daily Rhythm Homeschool Planning Guide II: Building Your Rhythm-rooted Routine Homeschool Planning Guide III: Filling the Slots PinterestFacebookTwitterEmail
When I discover a noteworthy truth, I like to paraphrase it and write myself into it. The exercise helps me swallow the passage and critically apply its lesson. It also helps guide my prayers. This week, Oswald Chambers’ devotional, Vision in Reality called for such a rewrite. I am sharing my journal entry with you today (italicized words are Oswald’s)….
Hosting a Noonday Collection trunk show is one great way to make a twofold difference! As Christians, we are called to seek justice by helping the poor, the oppressed and the orphans. Through Noonday Collection, we can do all three when we buy and promote their beautiful products. Noonday Collection started with an adoption journey. Jessica Honegger sold…
Jesus talks about money more than any other topic and much of the time, He brings it up in connection with doing justice. I have been compiling a list of these verses in the back of my Bible cover for some time now. I will share here what I have found. COMMANDS TO BE GENEROUS:…
We all feel it- the need to know that we matter. Truly, each of us matters. A lot. We just can’t see the truth when we are looking for it in all the wrong places. Some search for decades chasing loose ends, bound for that infamous midlife crisis. Even Christians rarely grasp the full truth fully. Sometimes we catch a…
Ted Haynes, current campaign chair of the Tulsa Area United Way, encourages staff, volunteers and donors by telling his story. Well, it isn’t his story. It’s Sara’s story (name changed for confidentiality), in which Ted and his family played a part. When Sara was 16 years old, her parents dropped a box off at school and told the counselor she could not come…
I know I talk big about doing justice even when you think you can’t. But I have to add that excuses are not always lame. While it is beautifully true that God strengthens believers to do works they thought they couldn’t handle, it is just as true that sometimes He wants people to lay low. If…
I can believe something without knowing it. For years sermons and accountability meetings nudged me to make Bible study a priority and I believed them, but I didn’t know how pivotal quiet time truly was until 2013. Through high school, I hungered for the truth- curiosity drew me to scripture often and I journaled avidly. But for…
There’s so much selfishness to teach out of my kids. I feel like I am teaching all the day long. Sometimes though, my kids teach me. Tonight my son’s compassionate little heart taught me a scripture application I had never thought of before. Our bedtime stories are usually about airplanes or horses or Buzz Lightyear. I make up plots…